Krueger
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The Wall Street Journal
Feb. 10, 2014
The U.S. points out that Beijing's claims to the South China Sea don't stand up.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Europe Victoria Nuland dropped an F-bomb over the European Union last week, but the kerfuffle over her wiretapped conversation should not overshadow the laser-guided munition delivered by her counterpart for Asia, Danny Russel. In testimony before a House subcommittee last Wednesday Mr. Russel challenged Beijing to put up or shut up on the issue of its disputed territorial claims in the South China Sea.
"There is a growing concern," Mr. Russel said after enumerating a long list of Beijing's provocative maritime actions, "that this pattern of behavior in the South China Sea reflects an incremental effort by China to assert control over the area contained in the so-called 'nine-dash line,' despite the objections of its neighbors and despite the lack of any explanation or apparent basis under international law regarding the scope of the claim itself."
The "nine-dash line" Mr. Russel referred to is Beijing's dubious deed of ownership for countless shoals and atolls, a feature of Chinese maps that shows the country's "historical waters." It is copied from a map drawn up by the government of Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek in 1947. The dashes enclose roughly 90% of the South China Sea and overlap not only with five other countries' island claims, but also with their exclusive economic zones and continental shelves hundreds of miles away from the Chinese coast.
Under maritime law, "historical waters" can only be claimed under rare and limited circumstances, none of which apply to this vast sea. Mr. Russel was more explicit than any other U.S. official we know of in calling China's claim bogus: "I want to reinforce the point that under international law, maritime claims in the South China Sea must be derived from land features. Any use of the 'nine-dash line' by China to claim maritime rights not based on claimed land features would be inconsistent with international law."
This was already enough to make Beijing go ballistic, but the Assistant Secretary of State went further. In the most diplomatic language, he called on Beijing to either come up with a better argument for its claim or drop it: "The international community would welcome China to clarify or adjust its nine-dash line claim to bring it in accordance with the international law of the sea."
Beijing always endeavors to negotiate on a bilateral basis with each of the other five South China Sea claimants, which would allow it to skate over the sketchy legality of its actions. However, last year Manila defied China's wishes and applied to the United Nations for a tribunal ruling on the dispute after Chinese forces seized Scarborough Shoal from the Philippines in 2012.
Beijing's next line of defense is to decline to participate in or recognize such proceedings. It keeps the basis of its claims deliberately ambiguous, leaving its rivals unable to challenge them and a tribunal unable to definitively rule against them.
The U.S., however, has seemingly decided to debunk Beijing's nine-dash line argument in the court of international public opinion. Mr. Russel devastatingly pinpointed the key weakness of Beijing's expansive claims. China's purported ownership of all the land in the South China Sea derives from a map showing its territorial waters. Yet one of the most basic principles of maritime law is that territorial waters derive from territory, and not the other way around.
Naturally Beijing's spokesmen and state-run media are furious that somebody has dared to point out that the emperor has no clothes. They denounce U.S. "interference in China's domestic affairs" as "irresponsible" and "not constructive."
China's neighbors have a different concern: Will the U.S. back up its rhetoric with action? At the beginning of this year Beijing unilaterally imposed new rules on fishing in the South China Sea, requiring all boats to seek its permission first. The Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reports that Beijing will soon announce an air defense identification zone over the South China Sea to effectively control the airspace.
China is changing the status quo in the South China Sea with force and the threat of force. Philippine President Benigno Aquino warned last week that the world is appeasing a rising China's unreasonable demands much as it did with Nazi Germany in the 1930s. It's an analogy that is gaining plausibility. Mr. Russel's statements are a small but important marker that the U.S. still remembers its history and won't let Beijing's provocations go unchallenged.
Calling Out China's Lawlessness - WSJ.com
Feb. 10, 2014
The U.S. points out that Beijing's claims to the South China Sea don't stand up.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Europe Victoria Nuland dropped an F-bomb over the European Union last week, but the kerfuffle over her wiretapped conversation should not overshadow the laser-guided munition delivered by her counterpart for Asia, Danny Russel. In testimony before a House subcommittee last Wednesday Mr. Russel challenged Beijing to put up or shut up on the issue of its disputed territorial claims in the South China Sea.
"There is a growing concern," Mr. Russel said after enumerating a long list of Beijing's provocative maritime actions, "that this pattern of behavior in the South China Sea reflects an incremental effort by China to assert control over the area contained in the so-called 'nine-dash line,' despite the objections of its neighbors and despite the lack of any explanation or apparent basis under international law regarding the scope of the claim itself."
The "nine-dash line" Mr. Russel referred to is Beijing's dubious deed of ownership for countless shoals and atolls, a feature of Chinese maps that shows the country's "historical waters." It is copied from a map drawn up by the government of Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek in 1947. The dashes enclose roughly 90% of the South China Sea and overlap not only with five other countries' island claims, but also with their exclusive economic zones and continental shelves hundreds of miles away from the Chinese coast.
Under maritime law, "historical waters" can only be claimed under rare and limited circumstances, none of which apply to this vast sea. Mr. Russel was more explicit than any other U.S. official we know of in calling China's claim bogus: "I want to reinforce the point that under international law, maritime claims in the South China Sea must be derived from land features. Any use of the 'nine-dash line' by China to claim maritime rights not based on claimed land features would be inconsistent with international law."
This was already enough to make Beijing go ballistic, but the Assistant Secretary of State went further. In the most diplomatic language, he called on Beijing to either come up with a better argument for its claim or drop it: "The international community would welcome China to clarify or adjust its nine-dash line claim to bring it in accordance with the international law of the sea."
Beijing always endeavors to negotiate on a bilateral basis with each of the other five South China Sea claimants, which would allow it to skate over the sketchy legality of its actions. However, last year Manila defied China's wishes and applied to the United Nations for a tribunal ruling on the dispute after Chinese forces seized Scarborough Shoal from the Philippines in 2012.
Beijing's next line of defense is to decline to participate in or recognize such proceedings. It keeps the basis of its claims deliberately ambiguous, leaving its rivals unable to challenge them and a tribunal unable to definitively rule against them.
The U.S., however, has seemingly decided to debunk Beijing's nine-dash line argument in the court of international public opinion. Mr. Russel devastatingly pinpointed the key weakness of Beijing's expansive claims. China's purported ownership of all the land in the South China Sea derives from a map showing its territorial waters. Yet one of the most basic principles of maritime law is that territorial waters derive from territory, and not the other way around.
Naturally Beijing's spokesmen and state-run media are furious that somebody has dared to point out that the emperor has no clothes. They denounce U.S. "interference in China's domestic affairs" as "irresponsible" and "not constructive."
China's neighbors have a different concern: Will the U.S. back up its rhetoric with action? At the beginning of this year Beijing unilaterally imposed new rules on fishing in the South China Sea, requiring all boats to seek its permission first. The Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reports that Beijing will soon announce an air defense identification zone over the South China Sea to effectively control the airspace.
China is changing the status quo in the South China Sea with force and the threat of force. Philippine President Benigno Aquino warned last week that the world is appeasing a rising China's unreasonable demands much as it did with Nazi Germany in the 1930s. It's an analogy that is gaining plausibility. Mr. Russel's statements are a small but important marker that the U.S. still remembers its history and won't let Beijing's provocations go unchallenged.
Calling Out China's Lawlessness - WSJ.com
